FR Doc 03-29770
[Federal Register: December 1, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 230)]
[Notices]
[Page 67206-67208]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01de03-97]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region, Phoenix Area Office,
Phoenix, AZ
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3003, of the
completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary
objects in the possession of the U.S. Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region, Phoenix Area Office,
Phoenix, AZ. The human remains and associated funerary objects were
removed from site AZ AA:6:19(ASM), in the Santa Cruz Flats, Pinal
County, AZ.
This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(3).
The determinations within this notice are the sole responsibility of
the museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the
Native American human remains and associated funerary objects. The
National Park Service is not responsible for the determinations within
this notice.
A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by Bureau of
Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region, Phoenix Area Office professional
staff in consultation with representatives of the Ak Chin Indian
Community of the Ak Chin Indian Reservation, Arizona; Chemehuevi Indian
Tribe of the Chemehuevi Reservation, California; Cocopah Tribe of
Arizona; Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado Indian
Reservation, Arizona and California; Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation,
Arizona; Fort Mojave Indian Tribe of Arizona, California & Nevada; Gila
River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona;
Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Pasqua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona; Quechan Tribe of
the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, California & Arizona; Salt River
Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona;
San Carlos Apache Tribe of the San Carlos
[[Page 67207]]
Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona (including the
San Xavier District of the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona); Tonto
Apache Tribe of Arizona; White Mountain Apache Tribe of the Fort Apache
Reservation, Arizona; Yavapai-Apache Nation of the Camp Verde Indian
Reservation, Arizona; Yavapai-Prescott Tribe of the Yavapai
Reservation, Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New
Mexico.
In 1987, human remains representing a minimum of six individuals
were removed from site AZ AA:6:19(ASM) during legally authorized data
recovery efforts undertaken by Northland Research, Inc., for the Bureau
of Reclamation. The site is located in the Santa Cruz Flats, just north
of the Silver Bell Mountains in Pinal County, AZ. No known individuals
were identified. The 21 associated funerary objects are 1 ground stone
fragment, 3 bags of chipped stone flakes, 3 bags of unworked faunal
bone, 1 bag of unworked shell, 2 bags of worked shell (consisting of
811 shell beads plus fragments), 3 radiocarbon samples, 2 flotation
samples (in 5 bags), and 6 pollen samples.
On the basis of archeological context, architectural, chronometric,
and artifactual evidence, the site dates to the Late Archaic period
(1500 B.C.- A.D. 1).
Evidence provided by anthropological, archeological, biological,
geographical, historical, kinship, linguistics, and oral tradition
sources was considered in determining the cultural affiliation of the
human remains and associated funerary objects. Bureau of Reclamation,
Lower Colorado Region, Phoenix Area Office officials have determined
that, pursuant to 43 CFR 10.2 (e), the preponderance of the evidence
suggests that a relationship of shared group identity can be traced
between the historic O'odham groups, represented by the present-day
Indian tribes of the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Ak Chin Indian
Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River
Indian Reservation, Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community
of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; and Tohono O'odham Nation of
Arizona (including the San Xavier District of the Tohono O'odham Nation
of Arizona), and the prehistoric Late Archaic groups that occupied the
Santa Cruz River valley and surrounding areas.
There is a growing amount of archeological data that suggests a
local continuum between Late Archaic populations and the Hohokam, a
later prehistoric group with recognized affiliation to the O'odham. The
cultural continuum is demonstrated by an increase in sedentism;
establishment of pithouse settlements; adoption of agriculture;
development of ceramic, ground stone, and shell manufacturing
technology; and increased participation in nonlocal trade.
The O'odham were well established along the rivers and in the
deserts when the Spanish first arrived in northern Sonora and southern
Arizona. Oral traditions tell of early groups that were present before
the adoption of agriculture, and refer to the introduction of several
cultivated crops. O'odham traditions are also deeply embedded in the
geography of southern Arizona, with events taking place at specific
landmarks within traditional O'odham lands. The O'odham consider the
Hohokam and their predecessors to be O'odham ancestors. Although the
O'odham belong to the same linguistic group (Piman) as communities in
what is now northern Mexico, shared vocabulary and syntax with Yuman
language groups along the Colorado River suggests a long-term history
of interaction in what is now southern Arizona that stretches back into
prehistoric times.
Evidence suggests that the Hopi and Zuni are also culturally
affiliated with the Hohokam and their predecessors. Their ancestors had
trade relationships and other likely interactions with the Hohokam,
similar to those found between groups in the early historic period.
Hopi and Zuni oral traditions indicate that segments of the prehistoric
Hohokam population migrated to the areas occupied by the Hopi and Zuni
and were assimilated into the resident populations. A cultural
continuum between Late Archaic groups in the Santa Cruz Valley and the
later Hohokam suggests that the Hopi and Zuni are also affiliated with
the Late Archaic populations.
Officials of the Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region,
Phoenix Area Office have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001
(9-10), the human remains described above represent the physical
remains of at least six individuals of Native American ancestry.
Officials of the Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region, Phoenix
Area Office also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001
(3)(A), the 21 objects described above are reasonably believed to have
been placed with or near individual human remains at the time of death
or later as part of the death rite or ceremony. Lastly, officials of
the Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region, Phoenix Area Office
have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a
relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced
between the Native American human remains and associated funerary
objects and the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Ak Chin Indian
Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River
Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima-
Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona;
Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona (including the San Xavier District of
the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona), and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni
Reservation, New Mexico.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with these human remains and associated
funerary objects should contact Jon Czaplicki or Bruce Ellis, Bureau of
Reclamation, Phoenix Area Office, P.O. Box 81169, Phoenix, AZ 85069-
1169, telephone (602) 216-3862, before December 31, 2003. Repatriation
of the human remains and associated funerary objects to the Ak Chin
Indian Community of the Ak Chin Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River
Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi
Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt
River Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona (including
the San Xavier District of the Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona); and
Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico may proceed after that
date if no additional claimants come forward.
The Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region, Phoenix Area
Office is responsible for notifying the Ak Chin Indian Community of the
Ak Chin Indian Reservation, Arizona; Chemehuevi Indian Tribe of the
Chemehuevi Reservation, California; Cocopah Tribe of Arizona; Colorado
River Indian Tribes of the Colorado Indian Reservation, Arizona and
California; Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, Arizona; Fort Mojave Indian
Tribe of Arizona, California & Nevada; Gila River Indian Community of
the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona;
Pasqua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona; Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian
Reservation, California & Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; San Carlos Apache
Tribe of the San Carlos Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of
Arizona (including the San Xavier District of the Tohono O'odham Nation
of Arizona); Tonto Apache Tribe of Arizona; White Mountain Apache Tribe
of the Fort Apache Reservation, Arizona; Yavapai-Apache Nation of the
[[Page 67208]]
Camp Verde Indian Reservation, Arizona; Yavapai-Prescott Tribe of the
Yavapai Reservation, Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation,
New Mexico that this notice has been published.
Dated: October 27, 2003.
John Robbins,
Assistant Director, Cultural Resources.
[FR Doc. 03-29770 Filed 11-28-03; 8:45 am]
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